About

RickB- Human, Artist, Fool.

Ynys Mon, UK.

The blog is called ten percent because of what Kurt Vonnegut wrote when remembering Susan Sontag - She was asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, and she said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.-

And I'm writing it because I need the therapy and I lust for world domination.

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So Whose Job Is The Council Doing?

14 July, 2009 — RickB

A business plan to save a town’s swimming pool from closure has been supported by councillors. Gwynedd Council had wanted to close Harlech pool to save money, but local people submitted a business plan to run it with a community trust. The Friends of Harlech swimming pool want to invest in a climbing wall and cafe to attract more paying customers. If their plans had been rejected the council would have closed the pool at the end of July. The move to try and get the pool under community ownership is being followed with interest in other parts of Wales, which have already lost their pools.

Essentially the council have abrogated their responsibility to provide and run a pool, the people are going to do it, so what exactly is the council’s function then? If they do not run things on behalf of the people?

what are they for?

who are they actually serving?

Gwynedd council leader Dyfed Edwards said there was a need to look at ways to cut £15m from the budget over the next three years. “Can we sustain these assets and the buildings that we have across a large rural county such as Gwynedd for the future with the finance that we’re provided? The answer is no. “It’s all very well having a policy and an agenda from a national government – how do we deliver it locally is the question,” he said.

For the Friends of Harlech swimming pool’s plan to work they needed to be given the freehold of the building. On Tuesday the board of Gwynedd council discussed the pros and cons of the plan.

Other parts of the UK have already set up community trusts to run swimming pools. Alan Joyce has successfully run a community owned pool in Sheffield for the past 16 years.

Why cut £15 million, there are many times that in bonuses being paid to a few hundred sociopathic parasites in the City of London. Whose need is greater? A shiny suited already wealthy person or an area with large coastlines where children need to be taught how to swim? The crisis of capitalism is not an abstract, it is a class war with casualties and none of the people meant to represent us (and paid by us) are actually fighting for us.

UPDATE: In comments Earwicga informs me that the swimming pool was in competition with North Wales Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre [RASA], ie. these basic service have to compete for funding while government refuses to tax the untaxed capital of the ultra rich. The LABOUR government. Oh yeah, I am back I am fucking pissed off.